I think that in light of declining hard and softcover book sales, Scholastic has also made a smart decision to ramp up its efforts in non-publishing areas, particularly dealing with community service and education. In September, Scholastic helped to launch The Teacher Wall, which connects teachers across the country giving them a forum for discussion of teaching techniques and the ability to discuss with and learn from each other. Scholastic also hosted several live webcasts (and offered coordinating classroom materials) this fall, which were available for teachers to use.
READ 180®, another of Scholastic's programs designed to enhance the teaching process, continues to be effective in helping struggling readers increase their reading comprehension. The original version of the program was launched in 1999, and in May, Scholastic released READ 180® Next Generation. Both programs are showing strong sales.
In October, Scholastic unveiled the Scholastic Family and Community Engagement (FACE) task force. The team, which was created in response to evidence that greater family involvement usually means increased academic achievement, will provide programs and support to five priority areas: early literacy, parent support and training, access to books at home, expanded learning, and mentoring partnerships.
Scholastic continues to appoint children to the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps, giving these budding journalists the opportunity to interview the country's leading politicians and entertainment stars. The 32 new members of the Corps (chosen from a pool of more than 200 applicants) will join 27 members from last year for Election 2012 coverage starting this spring.
Digitally, Scholastic has partnered with the digital developer Ruckus Media to create the Scholastic Ruckus imprint and with Sourcebooks to carry their e-books.
Scholastic is putting a lot of effort behind marketing the Hunger Games series, piggy-backing off the upcoming movie hype—they are releasing three movie tie-in titles and the first two chapters of the first book in the trillogy are available on the Scholastic Facebook page. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (and its movie counterpart Hugo) also saw love on the blog, facebook page, and through a red-carpet interview by a Kids Press Corps member. Earlier this fall, Scholastic used the 25th anniversary of The Magic Schoolbus series to spearhead a new marketing campaign for "the Friz" and her magical bus. In early November, Scholastic released a list of their 2011 Holiday predictions, as well as books guaranteed to get boys reading.
I believe that Scholastic is in a great position in the publishing world and will continue to produce great children's books, as well as quality programs for educators and families for many years to come.
